Thursday, April 16, 2009

I love TED (not to be confused with Ted who I find funny and enjoyable). Quite simply the TED Talks have become the must see for everything that I find interesting and exciting in the world. I'm not going to go into what TED is and who has spoken etc. because you should go and explore it yourself.

What I will do, however, is share this latest piece of technology that has come to my attention through TED.

SixthSense is the very first piece of technology that I am truely excited about. Touchscreen blah. Solid-state memory blah. Quad-core Cell processors, you guessed it, blah. SixthSense is something so cool and so much more exciting then any of these things.

Imagine a technology that will make tactile interfaces obsolete. A technology that will make every piece of technology you use on a daily basis completely mobile. Imagine a technology that will give everyone access to supercomputing power. SixthSense is exciting.

At this year's CHI (Computer-Human Interaction) Conference in Boston, the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT's Media Lab unveiled SixthSense, the latest, most technologically advanced, wearable, gesture-controlled computing device. The device will allow users to access every computer based programme and interface through a reality augmented interface. Basically you use your hands in 3D space to control all actions. That could be drawing an @ sign in the air with your finger to access your email (with all information projected onto any flat surface infront of you), or checking the time by using that same finger to draw a circle (which produces an analog watch right on your wrist), or perhaps taking a digital photograph by putting your thumbs and forefinger together to make a rectangle (as you see photographers doing when setting up shots).

"We're trying to make it possible to have access to relevant information in a more seamless way," says Dr Pattie Maes, who heads the Fluid Interfaces Group at MIT. "We have a vision of a computing system that understands, at least to some extent, where the user is, what the user is doing, and who the user is interacting with," says Dr. Maes. "SixthSense can then proactively make information available to that user based on the situation."

2 comments:

Will Lynch
said...

yeah, TED is uniquely brilliant. I have been a fan of it for years.

A treasure trove of thoughts,ideas and lectures on a dizzying array of topics by speakers who are leaders in their fields.

Sixth Sense seems very reminiscent of the technology used in Minority Report.

Search Digitology

Digitology - The Digital Marketing Blog

Digitology is primarily a dissection of digital culture. Here you'll find everything from the latest digital marketing news to information on new and innovative digital products. Although based in Dublin, the blog draws on the entire cyber collective, with insights into both domestic and international developments. However, you may also find posts on some of the other things I love in life like food, art, events etc.

Disclaimer

Please note that all opinions, views, ideas, and congratulations and criticisms, expressed in this blog, are my own and no one elses. They do not in any way reflect the opinions or views of my employer. If you have any issue with what I say or write, please feel free to contact me personally (christianhughes [at] gmail.com) and I will be more then happy to discuss the merit of those comments.